Pirelli on the verge of F1 pull out?

Pirelli could quit F1 at the end of the 2013 season according to suggestions made by the firms Motorsport Director Paul Hembery. The deal for the company to be the sole supplier of tyres expires at the end of the year and Pirelli is pushing for a new contract to be signed as a matter of urgency. “On the 1st of september we are supposed to tell the teams everything they need to know, but we are now Mid May so you can imagine how ludicrous that is when we have not got a contract in place” explains Hembery. “At a certain point someone has to make a decision. I have always said that I will not reveal the internal deadline but things really are getting too late. As far as we can see things are getting extremely serious because the changes next year are so substantial. The sport has to make a rapid decision because we have resources we need and we have to do the technical job of actually making the tyres. It will not be a case of putting a harder compound onto this years tyre, we need to do a thorough re-engineering of the tyre and that takes time, the point will come soon that it will become impossible and we will say that we do not have the time to do the job anymore.”

Hembery added that it would be cheaper for Pirelli for them to attend the Monaco Grand Prix in a different capacity next year, when asked if Pirelli would quit if its ideas and proposals are rejected. “Probably. You know I’d much rather come to Monaco and sit on a boat drinking champagne like everyone else, it would be much cheaper.”

If Pirelli were to leave it would pave the way for Korean tyre maker Hankook to fill the void. Cho Hyun-bum the CFO of the tyre maker told the Financial Times that Bernie Ecclestone had invited Hankook to replace Pirelli in 2011 when Bridgestone left the sport. At the time the company were unable to meet the demand in such a short time frame but that situation could well have changed by now. Hankook is now in its third season as the sole tyre supplier to DTM. “We are keen to do it and DTM is a logical stepping stone,” Cho told the FT. Hankook is targeting blue-riband motorsport to address its greatest commercial weakness: poor brand value in developed markets.

Michelin is not thought to be interested in being a sole tyre supplier.

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Sam grew up in South London within sight of the long abandoned Crystal Palace Race Circuit, yet found himself on work experience in the loom shop at Williams F1 aged 16. He has been heavily involved in the sport ever since, having gained a Nationa Diploma in Motorsport Engineering from East Surrey College (where he also built and raced a Group N Ford Fiesta) and studied Automotive Engineering at Oxford Brookes University.
Collins has written for Motorsport News, Autosport, Model Collector, Speed TV, 750 Bulletin, Rafahiya and a number of others. He has also written a number of books including Autodrome, and Unraced. He is also the Editor of Stockcar Engineering magazine.
As a driver Collins has competed in stockcar racing, Formula Vee, stage and road rallying as well as many local events. He still competes occasionally in the European Late Model Series. His fairly random musings on motorsport can be found on the official twitter feed @racecarengineer